Dog poisoning turns out to be a contagious virus: “A terrible disease” – KW.be – Insurance for Pets

In Wenduine, stories have been circulating for a while about dog poisoning in the vicinity of the Astridpark and Noordzeelaan. Kris Steen saw it as his civic duty to warn dog owners through our newspaper. “Something like that causes a lot of suffering. And I can’t imagine that playing children would come into contact with that poison, ”he says. Kris and his wife Martine also own two dogs. “The shock is good here,” says Kris. “And not only with us: you are an exception in this neighborhood if you don’t have dogs.” However, according to vet Guy Soetaert, it turned out to be parvo, a very contagious virus that mainly occurs in young puppies. “There have been a few autopsies in the lab of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University. Each time it turned out to be parvo, a virus that is actually not common here anymore. Our pets are also vaccinated for it. But recently a new, virulent strain has been on the rise in a number of countries. ” However, according to Soetaert, there is no reason to panic. “The virus can linger in your house for up to two months, but it usually concerns isolated cases that, if strictly quarantined, can be quickly brought back under control. For the time being, I don’t see any new cases popping up in the region. ”Keep indoors Erna Vris lost four dogs to the virus. “All died in a few days,” she says. “Parvo is a terrible disease; the animals just bleed out. First they get diarrhea and they start vomiting, but then it is actually already too late. I will keep the other dogs indoors until the end of the year. I don’t want to have it on my conscience that other dogs would get infected by me. ”A new, virulent strain is on the rise in a number of countries. He too was confronted with a sudden dog death. “My niece’s dog to be precise. Still a puppy, she just had the animal. She had taken it for a walk near Astridplein, and two days later it was dead, ”he says. According to Peter, in this case it was never confirmed that it was a poisoning. “The lab result was negative. But it wasn’t parvo either. The dog was vaccinated against it. ”Temik According to veterinarian Guy Soetaert, poisoning occasionally occurs in the region. “Last summer there were a few cases in the Blankenberge-De Haan region. Fortunately not on a large scale. But this is an extra reason to always keep the dog on a leash. ” Veterinarian Peter Breemersch also recently received two reports in De Haan. In this case, it concerned cats that were poisoned with Temik, a dangerous pesticide that has been banned in our country for years but is sometimes still used by hunters to kill foxes. “The poison – red balls – was processed in pieces of fish. Anyone who does such a thing must be aware that even a small dose of Temik is fatal for humans ”, he warns. Police Commissioner Dennis Goes calls for always filing a complaint in case of animal poisoning. « We take this seriously. »